Duan Xingchi looked up. Luo Jin raised an eyebrow, already preparing to find a graceful way to backtrack if the answer turned out to be yes.
Duan Xingchi understood that when Luo Jin said “don’t like,” he actually meant “dislike.”
He didn’t dislike Luo Jin.
“No, I don’t not like you.”
“So it’s just because you’re not used to it then.” Hearing that he wasn’t disliked, Luo Jin’s tone lightened a bit.
Duan Xingchi’s aloofness was just his nature, but telling someone that always felt too self-conscious, so he simply nodded.
Having gotten a clear answer, Luo Jin suddenly felt more confident. Someone like him, who was great at socializing, couldn’t possibly fail to melt a little block of ice like this — impossible.
After that, neither of them spoke again. The villa complex was large and couldn’t be explored in one go. After showing him a few recreation areas, Luo Jin took him back home — this time remembering to carry in the suitcase.
They each went to their rooms. Luo Jin looked through a few files, while Duan Xingchi sat with his tablet and headphones on, doing who knew what.
Close to midnight, Luo Jin walked to his door and knocked — though the door wasn’t even closed.
Duan Xingchi took off his headphones and looked up. Luo Jin pointed to the time on his phone screen. “Go to bed early.”
“Okay.”
After hearing the reply, Luo Jin went back to his room to sleep, wondering if the young master would rest better tonight than he had the night before.
He didn’t.
At two in the morning, Duan Xingchi lay awake with his eyes open. He’d been exhausted during the day, but now he was completely awake.
He sighed in the darkness and reached for his phone, but hesitated — staring at it might only wake him up more, so he put it down again.
When you’re doing nothing, time moves painfully slowly. He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep again, but the moment he did, his stomach growled.
He was a bit hungry.
He pressed a hand against his stomach and turned onto his side. He figured that if he could just fall asleep, the hunger would fade — but instead, he couldn’t sleep at all. The emptiness in his stomach chased away even the last bit of drowsiness.
Sitting up, he brushed his messy bangs back and decided to go find something to eat in the kitchen.
Was this really okay? Going into someone else’s kitchen in the middle of the night?
But he was so hungry.
He rubbed his stomach again — and right on cue, it growled.
Forget it. He’d just explain to Luo Jin tomorrow.
He slipped into the kitchen. The dishes from dinner had gone cold — he couldn’t eat those again. But after looking around, he realized there wasn’t any ready-to-eat food, nor even instant noodles or snacks he could heat up quickly.
He stood there frowning at the empty kitchen when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
Turning around, he saw Luo Jin — his robe was rumpled, the loose neckline revealing a stretch of skin and his right collarbone.
Luo Jin had gotten up to use the bathroom and decided to check whether Duan Xingchi was asleep. The door had been open, but the bed was empty, so he came downstairs — only to find the young master rummaging through the kitchen in the middle of the night.
“I’m a little hungry,” Duan Xingchi admitted, caught red-handed in his midnight snack mission.
Luo Jin nodded, still drowsy, and yawned as he pulled out a bundle of noodles from the fridge.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were asleep.”
“I could’ve woken up.”
Duan Xingchi fell silent. Luo Jin chuckled softly — the young master was probably embarrassed. After all, with that frosty demeanor he’d shown all day, sneaking out to hunt for food at midnight didn’t quite fit his image.
Still a little cute.
But Duan Xingchi wasn’t really thinking that much — or rather, that wasn’t the main reason. The main reason was that he didn’t want to disturb Luo Jin; after working all day, Luo Jin probably needed rest.
“Fried noodles, noodles with sauce, or clear broth noodles?”
“Clear broth.”
“Okay.”
Luo Jin then took out a ham and two eggs from the fridge.
He boiled the noodles, fried a couple of eggs, and sliced the ham.
Within a few minutes, a bowl of noodles was ready.
He placed it on the table, yawning from sleepiness. “Eat quickly. There’s more in the pot. I’m heading upstairs — so tired.”
“Thanks.”
“For what? Don’t be so formal. Oh, right, no need to clean up.”
Luo Jin waved off casually and went upstairs, falling asleep in less than a second. The next morning, he found that the young master had already put the dishes on the table. Luo Jin placed them in the sterilizer and began preparing breakfast.
He carefully recalled what Duan Xingchi had eaten yesterday and made the same dishes. To avoid him getting bored eating the same thing twice in a row, he also prepared some new varieties.
The reason he could make so many kinds of breakfast was that his two friends, Pei Xin’an and Lu Zhiyan, were both in the restaurant and wine industry. When he visited them, he often sneaked into their restaurants to check out the dishes and ask for the recipes.
Even so, avoiding repetition over time was still difficult.
After finishing breakfast, Luo Jin went to work. Duan Xingchi hadn’t woken up yet. Luo Jin heated up some oat milk in the microwave, set the timer, and left a note for him.
……
Duan Xingchi didn’t know if it was the bowl of noodles that made him sleepy, but when he returned to his bedroom, he finally managed to fall asleep.
Luo Jin’s cooking skills were excellent. Duan Xingchi couldn’t really judge professional level, but compared to his own family chef, only the plating was slightly inferior; the taste was just as good.
A bowl of clear broth noodles was far better than the cold noodles he had the first time they met. He finished everything, and this time didn’t follow Luo Jin’s earlier suggestion to clean the dishes.
Although he was pampered, he wasn’t the type Luo Jin imagined — not completely incapable of doing chores. Some household tasks might not be done at home, but he still knew how to do them.
Because he had eaten noodles in the middle of the night, he wasn’t hungry when he woke up the next morning, but he still sat at the dining table.
Seeing the breakfast, he realized why Luo Jin hadn’t wanted him to clean up — it was to observe what he liked.
A complex emotion surged in Duan Xingchi’s chest. Besides arriving in a sports car with no trunk, Luo Jin seemed very reliable in every other way.
He grabbed the oat milk from the microwave and drank a sweet cup — it was always a pleasure to have warm oat milk in the morning, a habit he loved since childhood. At home, the housekeeper would always heat one up for him.
But his mother had said not to mention this habit to Luo Jin — it would be troublesome to ask someone else to do this. Yet Luo Jin still prepared it for him. When he messaged his mom, she was still awake and said that Luo Jin had indeed asked about it.
At the end, Qi Qing reminded him, “Make sure you get along well with Luo Jin — he’s really concerned about you.”
Duan Xingchi nodded, thinking for the first time how nice it would be if he weren’t so slow to warm up to people.
He felt slightly better than yesterday, but still a little unwell, especially his head, which throbbed and felt dizzy.
Having just returned from Country Y, adjusting to the time difference meant reversing a decade-plus of his daily schedule, so discomfort was inevitable.
He closed his eyes, rubbing his temples to try to ease it, but after five minutes there was still no effect. He recalled what Luo Jin had said yesterday — that if he really felt uncomfortable, going out for some fresh air might help — and Luo Jin had even registered his fingerprint on the door lock for him.
Duan Xingchi changed into dry clothes and retraced the route he had taken the previous day. At this hour, the plaza had many elderly people exercising. All the fitness equipment was taken, and a group wearing headphones were dancing in a line. Duan Xingchi didn’t linger and went straight to the swimming hall behind.
He hadn’t brought swimwear back, but fortunately, the swimming hall sold them. In the villa complex, residents were either rich or very rich, so the swimsuits were all expensive brands. Duan Xingchi chose swim trunks and a cap, storing his clothes in a locker.
He had learned to swim in elementary school. More broadly, he had been exposed to many sports from a young age. Although the young master was pampered and raised in a greenhouse-like environment, he had great athletic talent and excelled at everything.
His academic performance was also excellent. It was because he could attend a top university in China that Duan Cunshan and Qi Qing had been confident letting him return to the country.
Duan Xingchi swam several laps before getting out of the water. He had strong stamina and fitness and didn’t feel tired.
Walking to the changing room, he checked his phone and replied to a few messages from friends. This group of night owls were still clubbing; likely drunk, they kept saying they missed him and that if he were still in Country Y, they could be drinking together.
A few girls were whispering behind him, discussing his physique.
Duan Xingchi’s posture was tall and straight. Veins popped along his arms and abdomen, and his muscle contours were as described in novels — defined and firm. His entire body radiated masculine energy. Being tall with excellent proportions, his long legs alone drew attention. His powerful thighs and lean calves made the girls blush with infatuation.
After showering and changing, it was already noon. He planned to head home and take a nap.
His damp hair clung to his head; he ran his fingers through it, trying to shake off the water. But just then, he was unexpectedly sprayed all over by a passing child with a water gun.
He looked stern, really intimidating. The child hadn’t done it on purpose, standing there helpless with a water gun. “Ge… sorry, I didn’t expect it to reach so far. I just wanted to try it.”
The child’s mother quickly came over, picked up the kid, and apologized to Duan Xingchi. “Sorry, handsome.”
Duan Xingchi shook his head—it wasn’t a big deal, nothing to get angry about—but he really didn’t want to wear wet clothes.
He gave a small shake of his head and said, “It’s fine,” then lifted his hand and took off his damp shirt, carrying it loosely in one hand.
It was almost noon anyway; he might as well go back and take a nap.
“President Luo, the lease for our estate in the east of the city is about to expire. Do you have the contract?”
“It’s at my house—all the contracts are kept together. Has it already expired? That fast?”
“It expires on the eighth of next month. President He asked if you’d like to renew the lease.”
The estate in the east of the city had been one of the Luo family’s earliest properties. Back when the land was first bought, it was a prime location—great environment, near the suburbs, quiet and elegant—so Luo Hui had built a manor there.
As the family’s real estate business grew, taking over nearly sixty-five percent of G City’s developments, the manor eventually became one of their smallest properties.
So Luo Hui decided to lease out the entire estate. Luo Jin remembered it had been leased for twelve years—and it turned out that term was now almost up.
“Anyone offering a higher price?”
“Yes, but President He said that no matter how high others bid, his offer will never be lower. After all, as you know, his family has made a lot of money from that estate over the years.”
Of course Luo Jin knew. The estate was now one of G City’s top ten attractions. Since G City was a southern city with warm weather year-round, tourists came nonstop. Even if you ignored the hotel profits, just the entrance ticket revenue was a huge sum. Naturally, President He wouldn’t want to let go of such a cash cow.
“Then continue the lease. No need to switch tenants if we can help it. When is President He available?”
“He said anytime—he’s waiting on your schedule.”
Luo Jin glanced at the digital clock. “Then let’s do it today. I happen to be free this afternoon. Three o’clock. I’ll go home now and get the contract.”
“Alright, I’ll let him know. But President Luo, are we really not taking the estate back?”
Luo Jin shook his head. He’d asked his father the same question before, and Luo Hui had answered, “I’ve worked hard all my life. The Luo family’s assets are already large enough; one estate won’t make a difference. But if we take it back, it becomes a tourist site we’d have to manage—lots of big and small details, all troublesome. We’d have to learn how to run it. Easier to lease it out.”
Luo Jin had also asked, “Then why not just sell it?” His father had patted his shoulder and said, “That was the first piece of land I bought after starting my business. Even if it doesn’t serve much purpose now, it’s where I built my fortune. If we can avoid selling it, we will.”
Luo Jin understood—it was his father’s way of reminding him never to forget his roots in business.
…….
When Luo Jin got home, Duan Xingchi wasn’t there. He assumed the boy had gone out. He headed to the study, grabbed the contract, and was about to leave when he saw Duan Xingchi standing by the door, changing his shoes.
It was scorching outside, and since he’d walked back from the swimming center, his hair had nearly dried.
Neither expected to see the other at that moment, and both looked a bit startled.
Luo Jin’s gaze fell on Duan Xingchi’s muscular frame. The sight hit him harder than expected—seeing it up close, without clothes in the way, made it impossible not to notice how good his body really was.
Duan Xingchi looked at him from the doorway. Under that steady gaze, Luo Jin suddenly felt a little nervous and turned his eyes aside. “I just came back to grab a contract. I’ll be leaving now.”
Duan Xingchi nodded and stepped aside.
Luo Jin walked briskly toward the door, but before leaving, he turned back. “What are you having for lunch? You can order takeout if you want.”
Then it hit him—he hadn’t prepared lunch for the young master, and he had no idea what Duan Xingchi had eaten the day before.
“I’m not sure yet. Don’t worry about me.”
“Alright. I’m off then.”
As soon as Luo Jin left, Duan Xingchi unconsciously rubbed his stomach. He hadn’t eaten lunch yesterday, and he didn’t plan to today either. He figured he could last until Luo Jin came home that evening.
In just a few minutes, he stripped off his clothes, pulled the curtains shut—making the bedroom as dark as night, perfect for sleeping—and collapsed onto the bed, too sleepy to keep his eyes open.
